suō ergo sum :: i sew, therefore i am

film petit: mon petite amélie

it’s film petit time, and this month’s film is one that’s been a favorite of mine for many many years (we even had the soundtrack playing at our wedding reception in 2004). it’s…Amélie!

officially titled “Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain,” Amélie (affiliate link) is a 2001 French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet about a little girl that grew up within her own imagination. she was a lonely child and a lonely adult too, until one day she is struck by the urge to become a “do gooder” and surprise others with small acts of kindness and love. her shenanigans include stealing her father’s garden gnome and sending it around the world, guiding and describing the street scene to a blind man, and setting up two lonely hearts looking for love at her workplace.

as she does these good deeds for others, she chances upon a young man named Nino. Nino is on his own quest to find an elusive mystery man as he reassembles discarded photo booth photos for his collection, and Amélie quickly falls in love…but she knows the way to get his attention is through the photo booth.

so she goes to a photo booth and takes photos of herself…

…and directs Nino to meet her…

…knowing that when they finally do meet, they will fall deeply in love and be together forever.

in the meantime, playing the game is just as fun…

i knew i wanted to sew Amélie herself. as i watched the movie for the first time in years, i kept a notepad near me and sketched out my inspiration for what to sew for Em. i noticed a few things about Amélie’s wardrobe (played by the lovely Audrey Tatou):

as i put these ideas together, i noticed that the design that emerged reminded me of the darling ranges dress (adult pattern) by megan nielsen! i went with that inspiration. mine is a mini version, with short sleeves and fewer buttons.

the button down front comes to a v at the neck (i drafted facings, a feat i’m geekily proud of – this pattern has eight different pieces!). i stitched the facings down by hand for an invisible finish. the sleeves puff slightly at the shoulder, and i made it in a red with white polka dot cotton (moda essential dot) to stick with her mostly-red color theme. it closes with five white buttons.

the bodice attaches to a gathered skirt and has shirring in the back to add some shape while remaining very comfortable for my little gal. i owe my newfound knowledge of facings and shirring to the washi dress, so it was fun to apply those techniques to create this pattern of my own.

Petite Amélie LOVES her red polka dotted dress, and sets out to make the world a better place…

…one traveling garden gnome at a time! now scamper on over to probably actually to check out Gail’s gorgeous gnome dress! i LOVE that she was inspired by the gnome. the dress she made is amazing, you’ve got to see all the lovely details. Amélie was impressed!

and to find out if Petite Amélie’s photo booth charms worked on Little Nino…head over to a little gray for some amazing sewing and a little bit of trickery! Jessica had a genius collaboration idea with this one; you really don’t want to miss it!

it was SO fun planning this month’s post with both my co-host Jessica and Film Petit guest Gail – how great to have three people watch the same movie and be inspired by different parts of it! thanks ladies, this was such a blast!

***

here are the guidelines for film petit:

every month or so, Jessica and i (plus a guest blogger) will sew an outfit (or outfits) for our kid (or kids) inspired by a movie we love.

if you’d like to play along, please feel free to add any movie-inspired sewing to the film petit flickr group. if you sew along with our film petit choices, we’d love to see that too. we’re close to doing a round up, so keep ’em coming!

if we really like your stuff, we may ask you to join us for a future film!

this is a pretty relaxed series, really the only rule is to make outfits for kids based on films you love. if you have any questions, please let either of us know.

PS – i took the indoor photos in the Ace Hotel lobby where there is a functioning vintage photo booth (!!), and the outdoor photos at Cool Cottons, a wonderful local fabric shop you should definitely visit if you have the chance.

45 thoughts on “film petit: mon petite amélie”

Well, this sure put a smile on my face this morning. I remember watching this movie at a theatre in Paris in 2001… isn’t it a great movie !?! So unique, I love the whole thing her random acts of kindness, with the traveling gnome & the mystery of the photo booth/guy.
Et ta petite Amélie est adorable avec sa robe rouge :)

Oh thanks, Rachel! Such a great movie though I hadn’t seen it since having kids and the beginning of it kind of made me melancholy! Anyway though, still great et merci for your French comment! Now I’m legit. ;)

I truly love this Series Kristin. I hope you keep it going! It is so much fun to see what you and Jessica come up with, and you choose such fantastic movies! Amelie is wonderfully inspirational. Well done!!!

ohhh! love this series when it pops up and I need to see that movie. I’m kind of surprised I never have. One of my best friends actually named her daughter Amelie. Love photobooths too! Great dress and photoshoot!
Off to check out the others

So beautiful, Kristin! I feel a very strong connection to this movie too – and the soundtrack, for sure – and you’ve done a phenomenal job staying true to the movie’s spirit. LOVE the photos and the dress is adorable! Nice job producing your own pattern with facing and everything! It looks very professional. Pattern making in your near future?? ;) Anyways, I love it all – fantastic job – can’t wait to see what you come up with next time!!!

This post is so sweet I could cry. I adore the film “Amélie”, and am intrigued by your film petit series. What wonderful creativity. I haven’t yet sewn for the abundant number of little girls in my world, but this may be the inspiration I needed. I’ll definitely check out your Flickr group.

Oh yes, in red and green they were the perfect pair! And did you know the director would use a spot of blue in most scenes, too? If you can see O in there, he was that spot of blue in his Zissou shorts. :D

You are killing me! This is one of the funnest (most fun, whatever) photoshoots I’ve ever seen on a blog. Love it, love it, love it. Great movie choice, great dress, great sewing. I am seriously so impressed!

Oh I love Amalie! That’s so cool you had the soundtrack playing at your wedding. I think you totally nailed the look plus it’s such a cute practical dress for school and such. I’m impressed with your facing ability. And these pictures are just perfect! Wow as usual!